Systems and methods for providing consumer facing point-of-sale interfaces

ABSTRACT

Systems, apparatus, methods, and non-transitory media for providing point-of-sale functionality are discussed herein. Some embodiments may include a system including a merchant device and a consumer facing device. The merchant device may include a merchant display device configured to present interactive displays of a merchant facing interface configured to be used by merchants. The consumer facing device may be configured to present interactive displays of a consumer facing interface configured to be used by consumers. The point-of-sale system may be configured to facilitate financial transactions and other forms of consumer service. For example, merchant inputs provided via the merchant facing interface (e.g., entered menu items) may be shown on the consumer facing interface. In another example, consumer inputs provided via the consumer facing interface be sent to the merchant device and/or otherwise used by the merchant device to facilitate a financial transaction, among other things.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/454,675, filed Aug. 7, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/040,331, filed Sep. 27, 2013, which are eachincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate, generally, to techniques forproviding point-of-sale functionality for consumers.

BACKGROUND

Merchants provide products, services, or experiences to consumers atmerchant shops using point-of-sale systems that facilitate financialtransactions. The design of a point-of-sale system at a merchant shopcan affect the type of functionality provided by the point-of-salesystem, the quality and speed of consumer service, and other aspects ofa consumer's overall experience at the merchant shop. In this regard,areas for improving current systems have been identified.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, solutions to improvesuch systems have been realized and are described herein. Someembodiments may provide for a point-of-sale system configured to providea linked merchant facing interface and consumer facing interface. Thesystem may include a consumer facing device and a merchant facingdevice. The consumer facing device may include a consumer facing displaydevice and the merchant facing device may include a merchant facingdisplay device. The consumer facing device may further includeprocessing circuitry configured to: provide a consumer facing interfaceto the consumer facing display device; receive consumer inputs providedvia the consumer facing interface; and send the consumer inputs to amerchant device. The merchant facing device may further includeprocessing circuitry configured to: provide a merchant facing interfaceto the merchant facing display device; receive the consumer inputs fromthe consumer facing device provided via the consumer facing interface;and facilitate a financial transaction based on at least one consumerinput received from the consumer facing device.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the merchant device maybe further configured to generate the merchant facing interface and theconsumer facing interface. In some embodiments, the processing circuitryof the merchant device may be configured to generate the merchant facinginterface and the processing circuitry of the consumer facing device maybe configured to generate the consumer facing circuitry. In someembodiments, a central system or server may be configured to generatethe merchant facing interface and/or the consumer facing interface.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry of the merchant device may befurther configured to provide the consumer facing interface and receivethe consumer inputs from the consumer facing device via a wirelesspersonal area network (PAN) connection.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the merchant device maybe further configured to: receive merchant inputs provided via themerchant facing interface; determine point-of-sale data based on atleast one merchant input; and provide an indication of the point-of-saledata to the consumer facing interface of the consumer facing displaydevice. In some embodiments, the point-of-sale data may indicate atleast one of an item, a promotion, a menu item, an item price, amodification, and a total transaction price associated with apoint-of-sale order.

In some embodiments, the consumer facing device may include a promotioninstrument reader configured to generate promotion redemption dataindicating one or more promotions. The consumer facing interface may beconfigured to receive the promotion redemption data. The processingcircuitry of the consumer facing device is configured to send thepromotion redemption data to the merchant device. The processingcircuitry of the merchant device configured to facilitate the financialtransaction based on the at least one consumer input further includesthe processing circuitry being configured to: receive the promotionredemption data; determine a total transaction cost based at least inpart on the promotion redemption data; and provide an indication of thetotal transaction cost to the consumer facing interface of the consumerfacing device.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the merchant deviceconfigured to facilitate the financial transaction based on the at leastone consumer input further may further include the processing circuitrybeing configured to: receive tip data provided via the consumer facinginterface; determine a total transaction cost based at least in part onthe tip data; and facilitate the financial transaction based on thetotal transaction cost.

In some embodiments, the consumer facing device may include a cardreader configured to generate payment data of the consumer. The consumerfacing interface may be configured to receive the payment data. Theprocessing circuitry of the consumer facing device may be configured tosend the payment data to the merchant device. The processing circuitryof the merchant device configured to facilitate the financialtransaction based on the at least one consumer input further includesthe processing circuitry being configured to: receive the payment data;facilitate the financial transaction based at least in part on thepayment data; and provide a status confirmation for the financialtransaction to the merchant facing interface and the consumer facinginterface after facilitating the financial transaction.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the merchant device maybe further configured to: receive receipt selection data from theconsumer facing device and provided via the consumer facing interface;and facilitate at least one of a printing and emailing of a receipt forthe financial transaction based on the receipt selection data.

Some embodiments may provide for a machine-implemented method forfacilitating a point-of-sale transaction. For example, the method may beperformed by a merchant device and/or a central system or server. Themethod may include: generating, by one or more processing circuitry, amerchant facing interface and a consumer facing interface; providing themerchant facing interface to a merchant display device; providing theconsumer facing interface to a consumer facing display device; receivingconsumer inputs provided via the consumer facing interface; andfacilitating a financial transaction based on at least one consumerinput received via the consumer facing interface.

In some embodiments, the method may further include generating themerchant facing interface and the consumer facing interface byprocessing circuitry of a merchant device. In some embodiments,providing the consumer facing interface and receiving the consumerinputs includes providing the consumer facing interface and receivingthe consumer inputs via a wireless personal area network (PAN)connection between the processing circuitry of the merchant device andthe processing circuitry of a consumer facing device, where the consumerfacing device includes the consumer facing display device.

In some embodiments, the method may further include: receiving merchantinputs provided via the merchant facing interface; determiningpoint-of-sale data based on at least one merchant input; and providingan indication of the point-of-sale data to the consumer facinginterface. In some embodiments, the point-of-sale data may indicate atleast one of an item, a promotion, an item price, a modification, and atotal transaction price associated with a point-of-sale order

In some embodiments, the method may further include: receiving promotionredemption data indicating one or more promotions and generated based onat least one consumer input provided via the consumer facing interface;determining a total transaction cost based at least in part on thepromotion redemption data; and providing an indication of the totaltransaction cost to the consumer facing interface.

In some embodiments, the method may further include: receiving tip dataindicating a tip amount and generated based on at least one consumerinput provided via the consumer facing interface; determining a totaltransaction cost based at least in part on the tip data; andfacilitating the financial transaction based on the total transactioncost.

In some embodiments, the method may further include: receiving thepayment data of the consumer based on at least one consumer inputprovided via the consumer facing interface; facilitating the financialtransaction based at least in part on the payment data; and providing astatus confirmation for the financial transaction to the merchant facinginterface and the consumer facing interface after facilitating thefinancial transaction.

In some embodiments, the method may further include: receiving receiptselection data from the consumer facing device and provided via theconsumer facing interface; and facilitating at least one of a printingand emailing of a receipt for the financial transaction based on thereceipt selection data.

Some embodiments may include circuitry and/or media configured toimplement the methods and/or other functionality discussed herein. Forexample, one or more processors, and/or other machine components may beconfigured to implement the functionality discussed herein based oninstructions and/or other data stored in memory and/or othernon-transitory computer readable media.

These characteristics as well as additional features, functions, anddetails of various embodiments are described below. Similarly,corresponding and additional embodiments are also described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent application file contains at least one drawing executed incolor. Copies of this patent application with color drawing(s) will beprovided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

Having thus described some embodiments in general terms, reference willnow be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarilydrawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an example system, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 shows an example point-of-sale system, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 3 shows example circuitry, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 shows an example of a method for providing a linked consumerfacing interface and merchant facing interface, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 5 shows an example of a method for facilitating a financialtransaction, in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIGS. 6-14 show example linked merchant facing and consumer facinginterfaces, in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments will be described more fully hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodimentscontemplated herein are shown. Indeed, various embodiments may beimplemented in many different forms and should not be construed aslimited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legalrequirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

As used herein, the terms “data,” “content,” “information” and similarterms may be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of beingcaptured, transmitted, received, displayed and/or stored in accordancewith various example embodiments. Thus, use of any such terms should notbe taken to limit the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Further, wherea device is described herein to receive data from another device, itwill be appreciated that the data may be received directly from theanother device or may be received indirectly via one or moreintermediary devices, such as, for example, one or more servers, relays,routers, network access points, base stations, and/or the like,sometimes referred to herein as a “network.” Similarly, where a deviceis described herein to send data to another device, it will beappreciated that the data may be sent directly to the another device ormay be sent indirectly via one or more intermediary devices, such as,for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, network accesspoints, base stations, and/or the like.

As used herein, the term “method” refers to one or more steps that maybe performed by a device, apparatus, system, circuitry, one or moreprocessors, or the like. Where an example method is shown as includingmore than one step, it will be appreciated that the steps may beperformed in different orders than as shown in the example and that notall steps are necessarily required. Furthermore, the methods aredescribed herein as being performed by example structures for clarityand are not limited to those structures (e.g., a particular server,device, apparatus, etc.) in some embodiments.

Methods, systems, apparatus and computer program products describedherein are operable for providing a linked merchant facing interface andconsumer facing interface. A “merchant facing interface,” as usedherein, may refer to hardware, software, and/or combinations thereofconfigured to (e.g., via interactive merchant displays) facilitatemerchant point-of-sale inputs. A “consumer facing interface,” as usedherein, may refer to second hardware, software, and/or combinationsthereof configured to (e.g., via interactive consumer displays)facilitate consumer point-of-sale inputs. In that sense, the linkedmerchant and consumer interface may be configured to facilitatepoint-of-sale activity between consumers and merchants. For example,items for purchase entered by the merchant via the merchant facinginterface can be displayed on the consumer facing interface. Here,consumers can view items, prices, and total transaction prices as theitems are added in real time to a point-of-sale order. In anotherexample, payment data, promotion redemption data, tip amounts, paymentsignatures, impressions associated with other available promotions,etc., may be provided by consumers via the consumer facing interface.

Some embodiments may provide for a point-of-sale system including amerchant device and a consumer facing device. For example, the consumerfacing device may be a second device of the merchant that is configuredto be provided for consumer use in the course of a point-of-saletransaction. In other examples, the consumer facing device may be aconsumer device (e.g., a mobile phone of the consumer that is brought tothe merchant location by the consumer).

The merchant device may include a “merchant facing display device,”which as used herein, may refer to a display device configured toprovide the various merchant facing displays of the merchant facinginterface. In some embodiments, the merchant device may further includea touchscreen and/or other merchant input device (e.g., touchpad,keyboard, keypad, mouse, barcode scanner, RFID tag reader, etc.). Forexample, the merchant facing interface may include a point-of-saleinterface in which menu items can be selected and added to point-of-saleorders via the touchscreen.

The consumer facing device may include a “consumer facing displaydevice,” which as used herein, may refer to a display device configuredto provide the various consumer facing displays of the consumer facinginterface. In some embodiments, the consumer facing device may furtherinclude a various point-of-sale input devices configured to facilitatepoint-of-sale functionality. For example, the consumer facing device mayinclude a touchscreen and/or other consumer input device (e.g., keypad,touchpad, etc.) configured to generate tip data indicating a tip amountto be paid by the consumer, a pin number, a cashback amount, a consumerpayment signature, etc. The consumer facing device may additionally oralternatively include a promotion instrument reader (e.g., a camera,barcode scanner, etc.) configured to generate promotion redemption dataindicating a promotion being redeemed by the consumer and/or associatedattributes of the promotion (e.g., from a promotional instrument such asa digital and/or print voucher/coupon). Here, for example, the promotionredemption data may indicate a discount that can be applied by themerchant device to the point-of-sale order. In some embodiments, theconsumer facing device may include card reader (e.g., credit card, debitcard, etc.) configured to generate payment data of the consumer. Here,the payment data may be used by the merchant device to facilitate afinancial transaction.

In some embodiments, the merchant device and the consumer facing devicemay communicate with each other via a wireless personal area network(PAN) and/or using a Bluetooth protocol. Here, data generated by themerchant via the merchant interface (e.g., menu items being added to apoint-of-sale order) may be sent via the wireless PAN to the consumerfacing interface. In another example, data generated by the consumer viathe consumer facing interface (e.g., the tip data, payment data,promotion redemption data, etc.) may be sent to the merchant device(e.g., to facilitate a financial transaction).

In some embodiments, the consumer facing interface may be a thin-clientapplication running on the merchant device. For example, the merchantdevice may be configured to generate both the merchant facing interfaceand the consumer facing interface. The merchant device may be furtherconfigured to provide the consumer facing interface to the consumerfacing device and receive consumer inputs from the consumer facingdevice, via the wireless PAN. In some embodiments, the consumer facingdevice may be a consumer device (e.g., a mobile device that is carriedinto a merchant shop by a consumer).

Exemplary System Architecture

FIG. 1 shows an example system 100 in accordance with some embodiments.System 100 may include promotion and marketing system 102 (or “system102”), network 104, consumer device 106, and point-of-sale system 108.Point-of-sale system 108 may include merchant device 114 and consumerfacing device 116. In some embodiments, a point-of-sale system 108 maybe deployed at a merchant shop and scaled in accordance with merchantneed. For example, a point-of-sale system 108 may include multiplemerchant devices 114 and/or consumer facing devices 116.

Although a single point-of-sale system 108 is shown, system 100 mayinclude any number of point-of-sale systems that may be associated withvarious other merchants. A “merchant,” as used herein, may include, butis not limited to, a provider of promotions, business owner, consigner,shopkeeper, tradesperson, vender, operator, entrepreneur, agent, dealer,organization or the like that is in the business of a providing a good,service or experience to a consumer, facilitating the provision of agood, service or experience to a consumer and/or otherwise operating inthe stream of commerce.

In some embodiments, merchant device 114 and consumer facing device 116may be configured to provide point-of-sale (POS) functionality for themerchant, such as at the merchant's shop. The term “POS functionality”refers to activities associated with merchant or consumer transactionsincluding, without limitation, retail sales transactions, securepayments via consumer device, inventory management transactions,customer/consumer relationship management, promotion redemptiontransactions, promotion provider transactions, rewards transactions,custom order transactions, returns and refunds, gratuities, employeemanagement transactions (e.g., timecard transactions), and the like.

Merchant device 114 and/or consumer facing device 116 may each be astationary (e.g., fixed PC or terminal that is not intended to movethrough a merchant location) and/or mobile device (e.g., a tablet,smartphone, laptop, or other similar device that is intended for orcapable of moving about a merchant location).

Promotion and marketing system 102 may be communicably connected withpoint-of-sale system 108 and/or consumer device 106 via network 104.Promotion and marketing system 102 may be configured to provide apromotion and marketing service that is accessible via one or moreconsumer devices 106 and is operable to provide example promotion and/ormarketing services on behalf of one or more merchants that are offeringone or more instruments that are redeemable for goods, services,experiences and/or the like. The promotion and marketing service isfurther configured to illustrate or otherwise inform one or moreconsumers of the availability of one or more instruments in the form ofone or more impressions. In some examples, the promotion and marketingservice may also take the form of a redemption authority, a paymentprocessor, a rewards provider, an entity in a financial network, apromoter, an agent and/or the like. As such, promotion and marketingsystem 102 may be, in some example embodiments, configured to presentone or more promotions via one or more impressions, accept payments forpromotions from consumers, issue instruments upon acceptance of anoffer, participate in redemption, generate rewards, provide a point ofsale device or service, issue payments to providers and/or or otherwiseparticipate in the exchange of goods, services or experiences forcurrency, value and/or the like.

Promotion and marketing system 102 may include server 110 and database112. In some embodiments, the promotion and marketing system 102 may beconfigured to receive promotion data indicating a promotion for goodsand/or services and/or one or more parameters of the promotion (e.g.,target audience, timing, purchase value, promotional value, residualvalue, etc.) from a merchant device. Promotion and marketing system 102may then generate and/or provide one or more impressions for thepromotion to consumer device 106.

A “promotion,” as used herein, may include, but is not limited to, anytype of offered, presented or otherwise indicated reward, discount,coupon, credit, deal, incentive, discount, media or the like that isindicative of a promotional value or the like that upon purchase oracceptance results in the issuance of an instrument that may be usedtoward at least a portion of the purchase of particular goods, servicesand/or experiences defined by the promotion. An example promotion mayinclude a $25 for $50 toward running shoes. In some examples, thepromotion may define an accepted value (e.g., a cost to purchase thepromotion), a promotional value (e.g., the value of the resultantinstrument beyond the accepted value), a residual value (e.g., the valueupon return or upon expiry of one or more redemption parameters), one ormore redemptions parameters and/or the like. In the running shoepromotion, for example, the accepted value may be $25 and thepromotional value may be $50. In this example, the residual value may beequal to the accepted value.

An “instrument,” as used herein, may include, but is not limited to, anytype of gift card, tender, electronic certificate, medium of exchange,coupon, voucher, or the like that embodies the terms of the promotionfrom which the instrument resulted and may be used toward at least aportion of the purchase, acquisition, procurement, consumption or thelike of goods, services and/or experiences. In some examples, theinstrument may take the form of tender that has a given value that isexchangeable for goods, services and/or experiences and/or a reductionin a purchase price of a particular good, service or experience. In someexamples, the instrument may have multiple values, such as acceptedvalue, a promotional value and/or a residual value. In some embodiments,an electronic instrument may be provided to consumer device 106 upon aconsumer purchasing or otherwise accepting a promotion.

Server 110 may include circuitry, networked processors, or the likeconfigured to perform some or all of the server-based processesdescribed herein and may be any suitable network server and/or othertype of processing device. In some embodiments, system 102 may functionas a “cloud” with respect to the consumer device 106 and/or merchantdevice 114. In that sense, server 110 may include several serversperforming interconnected and/or distributed functions. To avoidunnecessarily overcomplicating the disclosure, server 110 is shown anddescribed herein as a single server.

Database 112 may be any suitable network storage device configured tostore some or all of the information described herein. For example,database 112 may be configured to store item data and/or promotion data(e.g., attributes of an item and/or promotion), consumer data (e.g.,attributes of the consumer such as profile information, preferences,purchase history, consumer behavior, among other things), and/or paymentdata (e.g., credit card information, debit card information, paymentinformation, billing address, payment account information, among otherthings). As such, database 112 may include, for example, one or moredatabase systems, backend data servers, network databases, cloud storagedevices, etc. To avoid unnecessarily overcomplicating the disclosure,database 112 is shown and described herein as a single database.

Network 104 may include one or more wired and/or wireless communicationnetworks including, for example, a wired or wireless local area network(LAN), personal area network (PAN), metropolitan area network (MAN),wide area network (WAN), or the like, as well as any hardware, softwareand/or firmware for implementing the one or more networks (e.g., networkrouters, switches, hubs, etc.). For example, network 104 may include acellular telephone, mobile broadband, long term evolution (LTE),GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, WiFi,dial-up, and/or WiMax network. Furthermore, network 104 may include apublic network, such as the Internet, a private network, such as anintranet, or combinations thereof, and may utilize a variety ofnetworking protocols now available or later developed including, but notlimited to TCP/IP based networking protocols.

Consumer device 106 may be associated with a consumer, such as aconsumer with a consumer account provided by the promotion and marketingsystem 102. Although a single consumer device 106 is shown, system 100may include any number of consumer devices that may be associated withvarious other consumers. Consumer device 106 may be a mobile deviceand/or a stationary device. For example, consumer device 106 may be amobile device such as a cellular telephone (including smartphones and/orother types of mobile telephones), laptop, tablet, electronic reader,e-book device, media device, and/or the like. Additionally oralternatively, consumer device 106 may be a stationary device such as adesktop computer, work station, point-of-sale device, or the like. Insome embodiments, consumer facing device 116 may be a consumer device(e.g., consumer device 106) that is carried to the merchant location bya consumer.

FIG. 2 shows an example point-of-sale system 200, in accordance withsome embodiments. Point-of-sale system 200 may include merchant device202 and consumer facing device 204, shown here as two tablets. Merchantdevice 202 may be configured to provide merchant facing interface 206via touchscreen/display 216. Consumer facing device 204 may beconfigured to provide the consumer facing interface 208 viatouchscreen/display 218. As discussed above, in some embodiments, themerchant facing interface and consumer facing interface may be linked,such as via wireless PAN 220 and/or network 104, such that consumerinputs provided by consumers via the consumer facing interface (e.g.,using touchscreen 218, camera 210, card reader 212) may be sent to themerchant device and merchant inputs provided by merchants via themerchant facing interface (e.g., using touchscreen 216) may be sent tothe consumer facing device.

In some embodiments, consumer facing device 204 may include camera 210and/or other promotion instrument reader (e.g., barcode scanner, radiofrequency (RF) reader, near field communication (NFC) reader, etc.)configured to generate promotion redemption data. For example, aconsumer may take a digital image of a promotion instrument (e.g., asdisplayed on a consumer device and/or a print coupon) that may include abarcode and/or other promotion identifier. In some embodiments, consumerfacing device 204 may additionally or alternatively include card reader212 configured to generate payment data. For example, the consumer maybe allowed to swipe a credit card, debit card, etc. in embodiments wherecard reader 212 includes a barcode reader.

Some embodiments of point-of-sale systems including linked merchant andconsumer facing interfaces may be different from point-of-sale system200. For example, the merchant device may be separate from the merchantfacing display (e.g., a monitor). In some embodiments, the card readerand/or promotion instrument reader may be separate from the consumerfacing device. For example, merchant device may include the card readerand/or promotion instrument reader. In some embodiments, the consumerfacing device may be stripped down to a consumer facing display deviceconfigured to provide various consumer facing interface displays and/ora touchscreen. In some embodiments, the merchant device and/or consumerfacing device may be stationary devices and/or otherwise positioned inaccordance with their function within a merchant shop. For example, themerchant device and/or merchant facing display may be positioned to facethe merchant at a reservation desk, checkout line, order kiosk, or POSstation, etc. while the consumer facing device and/or consumer facingdisplay may be positioned to face the consumer. In one embodiment, themerchant device/merchant facing display and the consumer facingdevice/consumer facing display may be configured or positioned in aback-to-back orientation relative to one another.

In some embodiments, consumer facing devices may be positionedseparately from the merchant facing device at locations of interestwithin a merchant shop. For example, a dine-in restaurant may placeconsumer facing devices at tables. Here, a merchant (e.g., a member ofthe wait staff) may carry a merchant device to the tables to takeconsumer orders. Consumers may view menus provided via the consumerfacing interface and track the entries of the menu items as they areadded to the point-of-sale order (e.g., by the merchant via the merchantdevice). Alternatively and/or additionally, consumers may be allowed touse the consumer facing interface to select menu items as a self-serveand/or add-to-order function. Here, menu items provided via the consumerfacing interface and/or consumer facing device may be sent to themerchant device and treated accordingly (e.g., sent to a kitchen printerand/or display, added to the point-of-sale order, etc.) by thepoint-of-sale system. In some embodiments, upon completion of the meal,consumers may be allowed to provide payments via the consumer facingdevices at the tables. Additional details regarding point-of-salefunctionality leveraging linked merchant facing and consumer facinginterfaces, applicable in some embodiments, are discussed in connectionwith methods 400 and 500 shown respectively in FIGS. 4-5.

In some embodiments, the merchant facing interface and/or consumerfacing interface may be a thin-client application running on a centralsystem (e.g., server 110 of promotion and marketing system 102). Here,the server 110 may be configured to generate both the merchant facinginterface and the consumer facing interface, provide the merchant facinginterface to the merchant device, and provide the consumer facinginterface to the consumer facing device. Server 110 may be furtherconfigured to receive merchant inputs provided via the merchant facinginterface and receive consumer inputs provided via the consumer facinginterface. Relevant data may be determined based on the merchant andconsumer input and may be provided to the merchant facing interfaceand/or consumer facing interface. Server 110 may be further configuredto facilitate financial transactions based on the merchant and consumerinputs. In that sense, the linked merchant facing interface and consumerfacing interface may be “linked” in various ways, such as via a directconnection between the merchant device and the consumer facing device(e.g., wired and/or wireless) and/or through server 110 (e.g., where themerchant device and consumer facing device may be thin-clients thatcommunicate with each other via server 110.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of example circuitry 300, some orall of which may be included in system 102, server 110, database 112,consumer device 106, point-of-sale system 108, merchant device 114,and/or consumer facing device 116. In accordance with some exampleembodiments, circuitry 300 may include various means, such as one ormore processors 302, memories 304, communications modules 306, and/orinput/output modules 308.

In some embodiments, such as when circuitry 300 is included in merchantdevice 114, point-of-sale module 310 may also or instead be included. Asreferred to herein, “module” includes hardware, software and/or firmwareconfigured to perform one or more particular functions. In this regard,the means of circuitry 300 as described herein may be embodied as, forexample, circuitry, hardware elements (e.g., a suitably programmedprocessor, combinational logic circuit, integrated circuit, and/or thelike), a computer program product comprising computer-readable programinstructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g.,memory 304) that is executable by a suitably configured processingdevice (e.g., processor 302), or some combination thereof.

Processor 302 may, for example, be embodied as various means includingone or more microprocessors with accompanying digital signalprocessor(s), one or more processor(s) without an accompanying digitalsignal processor, one or more coprocessors, one or more multi-coreprocessors, one or more controllers, processing circuitry, one or morecomputers, various other processing elements including integratedcircuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integratedcircuit) or FPGA (field programmable gate array), or some combinationthereof. Accordingly, although illustrated in FIG. 3 as a singleprocessor, in some embodiments, processor 302 may comprise a pluralityof processing means. The plurality of processing means may be embodiedon a single computing device or may be distributed across a plurality ofcomputing devices collectively configured to function as circuitry 300.The plurality of processing means may be in operative communication witheach other and may be collectively configured to perform one or morefunctionalities of circuitry 300 as described herein. In an exampleembodiment, processor 302 may be configured to execute instructionsstored in memory 304 or otherwise accessible to processor 302. Theseinstructions, when executed by processor 302, may cause circuitry 300 toperform one or more of the functionalities described herein.

Whether configured by hardware, firmware/software methods, or by acombination thereof, processor 302 may comprise an entity capable ofperforming operations according to embodiments of the present inventionwhile configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when processor 302 isembodied as an ASIC, FPGA or the like, processor 302 may comprisespecifically configured hardware for conducting one or more operationsdescribed herein. As another example, when processor 302 may be embodiedas an executor of instructions, such as may be stored in memory 304, theinstructions may specifically configure processor 302 to perform one ormore algorithms, methods or operations described herein. For example,processor 302 may be configured to execute operating systemapplications, firmware applications, media playback applications, mediaediting applications, among other things.

Memory 304 may comprise, for example, volatile memory, non-volatilememory, or some combination thereof. Although illustrated in FIG. 3 as asingle memory, memory 204 may comprise a plurality of memory components.The plurality of memory components may be embodied on a single computingcomponent or distributed across a plurality of computing components. Invarious embodiments, memory 304 may comprise, for example, a hard disk,random access memory, cache memory, flash memory, a compact disc readonly memory (CD-ROM), solid state memory, digital versatile disc readonly memory (DVD-ROM), an optical disc, circuitry configured to storeinformation, integrated circuitry, chemical/biological memory, paper, orsome combination thereof. Memory 304 may be configured to storeinformation, data, applications, instructions, or the like for enablingcircuitry 300 to carry out various functions in accordance with exampleembodiments discussed herein. For example, in at least some embodiments,memory 304 may be configured to buffer input data for processing byprocessor 302. Additionally or alternatively, in at least someembodiments, memory 304 may be configured to store program instructionsfor execution by processor 302 and/or data for processing by processor302. Memory 304 may store information in the form of static and/ordynamic information. This stored information may be stored and/or usedby circuitry 300 during the course of performing its functionalities.

Communications module 306 may be embodied as any component or meansembodied in circuitry, hardware, a computer program product comprisingcomputer readable program instructions stored on a computer readablemedium (e.g., memory 304) and executed by a processing device (e.g.,processor 302), or a combination thereof that is configured to receiveand/or transmit data from/to another device, such as, for example, asecond circuitry 300 and/or the like. In some embodiments,communications module 306 (like other components discussed herein) canbe at least partially embodied as or otherwise controlled by processor302. In this regard, communications module 306 may be in communicationwith processor 302, such as via a bus. Communications module 306 mayinclude, for example, an antenna, a transmitter, a receiver, atransceiver, network interface card and/or supporting hardware and/orfirmware/software for enabling communications. Communications module 306may be configured to receive and/or transmit any data that may be storedby memory 304 using any protocol that may be used for communications.Communications module 306 may additionally or alternatively be incommunication with the memory 304, input/output module 308 and/or anyother component of circuitry 300, such as via a bus. Communicationsmodule 306 may be configured to use one or more communications protocolssuch as, for example, Wi-Fi (e.g., a 802.11 protocol, etc.), Bluetooth,radio frequency systems (e.g., 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz, and 5.6 GHzcommunication systems), infrared, GSM, GSM plus EDGE, CDMA, quadband,and other cellular protocols, VOIP, or any other suitable protocol.

Input/output module 308 may be in communication with processor 302 toreceive an indication of an input and/or to provide an audible, visual,mechanical, or other output. In that sense, input/output module 308 mayinclude means for performing analog-to-digital and/or digital-to-analogdata conversions. Input/output module 308 may include support, forexample, for a display, touch screen, keyboard, button, click wheel,mouse, joystick, an image capturing device, microphone, speaker,biometric scanner, camera, card reader, barcode scanner, RFID reader,and/or other input/output mechanisms. In embodiments where circuitry 300may be implemented as a server or database, aspects of input/outputmodule 308 may be reduced as compared to embodiments where circuitry 300may be implemented as an end-user machine or other type of devicedesigned for complex user interactions. In some embodiments (like othercomponents discussed herein), input/output module 308 may even beeliminated from circuitry 300. Alternatively, such as in embodimentswherein circuitry 300 is embodied as a server or database, at least someaspects of input/output module 308 may be embodied on an apparatus usedby a user that is in communication with circuitry 300. Input/outputmodule 308 may be in communication with memory 304, communicationsmodule 306, and/or any other component(s), such as via a bus. Althoughmore than one input/output module and/or other component can be includedin circuitry 300, only one is shown in FIG. 3 to avoid overcomplicatingthe disclosure (e.g., like the other components discussed herein).

In some embodiments, point-of-sale module 310 may also or instead beincluded and configured to perform the functionality discussed hereinrelated providing point-of-sale functionality via linked consumer facingand merchant facing interfaces. In some embodiments, some or all of thefunctionality of point-of-sale module 310 may be performed by processor302. In this regard, the example processes and algorithms discussedherein can be performed by at least one processor 302 and/or promotionmodule 310. For example, non-transitory computer readable storage mediacan be configured to store firmware, one or more application programs,and/or other software, which include instructions and othercomputer-readable program code portions that can be executed to controlprocessors of the components of point-of-sale system 200 to implementvarious operations, including the examples shown above. As such, aseries of computer-readable program code portions may be embodied in oneor more computer program products and can be used, with a device,server, database, and/or other programmable apparatus, to produce themachine-implemented processes discussed herein.

Any such computer program instructions and/or other type of code may beloaded onto a computer, processor or other programmable apparatus'scircuitry to produce a machine, such that the computer, processor otherprogrammable circuitry that executes the code may be the means forimplementing various functions, including those described herein. Insome embodiments, one or more external systems (such as a remote cloudcomputing and/or data storage system) may also be leveraged to provideat least some of the functionality discussed herein.

As described above and as will be appreciated based on this disclosure,various embodiments may be implemented as methods, mediums, devices,servers, databases, systems, and the like. Accordingly, embodiments maycomprise various means including entirely of hardware or any combinationof software and hardware. Furthermore, embodiments may take the form ofa computer program product on at least one non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable programinstructions (e.g., computer software) embodied in the storage medium.Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized includingnon-transitory hard disks, CD/DVD-ROMs, flash memory, optical storagedevices, quantum storage devices, chemical storage devices, biologicalstorage devices, magnetic storage devices, etc.

Embodiments have been described above with reference to block diagramsof components, such as functional modules, system components andcircuitry. Below is a discussion of an example process flowchartsdescribing functionality that may be implemented by one or morecomponents discussed above. Each block of the block diagrams and processflowcharts, and combinations of blocks diagrams and process flowcharts,respectively, can be implemented by various means including computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may be loadedonto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, such as processor 302, toproduce a machine, such that the computer program product includes theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to create a means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable storage device (e.g., memory 304) that can direct acomputer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function ina particular manner, such that the instructions stored in thecomputer-readable storage device produce an article of manufactureincluding computer-readable instructions for implementing the functiondiscussed herein. The computer program instructions may also be loadedonto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions discussed herein.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport combinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and programinstruction means for performing the specified functions. It will alsobe understood that each block of the block diagrams and processflowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and processflowcharts, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedcomputer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, orcombinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Linked Merchant and Consumer Interface

FIG. 4 shows an example of a method 400 for providing a linked consumerfacing interface and merchant facing interface, in accordance with someembodiments. Method 400 may be performed by point-of-sale system 108(e.g., merchant device 114 110), as shown in FIG. 1. Method 400 isdescribed as being performed by merchant device 114 and/or consumerfacing device 116, however, other suitable structures (e.g., server 110,a networked device, circuitry, etc.) may also be used in variousembodiments.

Method 400 may begin at 402 and proceed to 404, where merchant device114 and consumer facing device 116 may be configured to establish acommunication connection. In some embodiments, the communicationconnection may be established via a direct wireless connection, such aswireless PAN 220 shown in FIG. 2. For example, where a Bluetoothcommunication protocol is used, merchant device 114 and consumer facingdevice 116 may be configured to pair and/or otherwise communicably bondto form a communication connection. In some embodiments, merchant device114 and consumer facing device 116 may be configured to form a securecommunication connection. For example, some or all of the datacommunicated between merchant device 114 and consumer facing device 116(e.g., payment data, private consumer data, etc.) may be encrypted witha shared token, code, public key, etc. In some embodiments, merchantdevice 114 and consumer facing device 116 may be configured toalternatively or additionally establish a communication connection vianetwork 104 (e.g., WiFi, mobile broadband, the Internet, via system 102,etc.). In some embodiments, merchant device 114 and consumer facingdevice 116 may be configured to alternatively or additionally establisha communication connection via wired connection (e.g., universal serialbus (USB), pin connectors, Ethernet, analog connectors (e.g., audiojack), etc.).

In some embodiments, such as where the processing steps of method 400(and/or method 500) are performed by server 110, server 110 may beconfigured to establish communication connections with merchant device114 and consumer facing device 116. For example, the communicationconnections may be established via network 104.

At 406, merchant device 114 may be configured to generate a merchantfacing interface and a consumer facing interface. For example, themerchant facing device may include processing circuitry configured toexecute computer readable program instructions from a non-transitorycomputer readable medium (e.g., a memory) that configures the processingcircuitry to generate the merchant facing interface and the consumerfacing interface. In some embodiments, the consumer facing interface maybe generated by separate processing circuitry from the merchant facinginterface, such as by consumer facing device 116. In some embodiments,such as where the processing steps of method 400 (and/or method 500) areperformed by server 110, server 110 may be configured to establish acommunication connection with merchant device 114 and consumer facingdevice 116. In some embodiments, server 110 may be configured togenerate a merchant facing interface and a consumer facing interface.

At 408, merchant device 114 may be configured to provide the merchantfacing interface to a merchant display device. For example and withreference to FIG. 2, merchant device 202 may include communicationscircuitry (e.g., a bus) configured to transfer display data associatedwith merchant facing interface 206 to merchant display device 216. Insome embodiments, server 110 may be configured to provide the merchantfacing interface to the merchant device, such as via network 104.

At 410, merchant device 114 may be configured to provide the consumerfacing interface to a consumer facing display device. For example andwith reference to FIG. 2, merchant device 202 may include communicationscircuitry configured to transfer display data associated with consumerfacing interface 208 to consumer facing display device 218. Here, whereconsumer facing display device 218 is included in consumer facing device204 and/or other second merchant device, merchant device 114 may beconfigured to send the display data via wireless PAN 220. In someembodiments, such as where wireless PAN 220 is not used and/or otherwiseunavailable, merchant device 114 may be configured to communicate withconsumer facing device 204 via network 104.

In some embodiments, such as where the consumer facing interface 208generated by processing circuitry of consumer facing device 204,consumer facing interface 208 may include communications circuitry(e.g., a bus) configured to transfer display data associated withconsumer facing interface 208 to consumer facing display device 218.

In some embodiments, such as where server 110 is configured to generatethe consumer facing interface, server 110 may be further configured toprovide the consumer facing interface to the consumer facing device,such as via network 104.

At 412, merchant device 114 may be configured to facilitate a financialtransaction via the merchant facing interface and the consumer facinginterface. For example, the merchant facing interface and consumerfacing interface may be used in the course of commercial activity at amerchant shop. At a retail store, merchant device 114 and consumerfacing device 116 may be located at a checkout line. At a dine-inrestaurant, merchant device 114 and consumer facing device 116 may belocated at a reservation desk, order counter, or the like. In someembodiments, merchant device 114 may be carried by a merchant tolocations within a merchant shop (e.g., tables) where consumer facingdevices 116 are disposed. In some embodiments, the merchant facinginterface and a consumer facing interface may each include variouslinked interactive displays configured to facilitate a point-of-saletransaction, among other things. Additional details regarding financialtransactions and/or other forms of consumer service that may be enhancedvia linked merchant and consumer facing interfaces are discussed inmethod 500 and FIG. 5 and the example linked consumer merchantinterfaces shown in FIGS. 6-12. In some embodiments, server 110 may beconfigured to facilitate the financial transaction. For example, server110 may be configured to receive merchant inputs provided via themerchant facing interface and consumer inputs provided via the consumerfacing interface. Server 110 may be further configured to facilitate thefinancial transaction based on one or more consumer inputs and/ormerchant inputs. Method 400 may then proceed to 414 and end.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a method 500 for facilitating a financialtransaction, in accordance with some embodiments. Method 500 may beperformed by point-of-sale system 108 (e.g., merchant device 114 110),as shown in FIG. 1. Method 500 is described as being performed bymerchant device 114 and/or consumer facing device 116, however, othersuitable structures (e.g., server 110, a networked device, circuitry,etc.) may also be used in various embodiments. In some embodiments,method 500 may be performed with method 400, such as at 412.

Method 500 may begin at 502 and proceed to 504, where merchant device114 may be configured to receive merchant inputs provided via themerchant facing interface. FIGS. 6-14 show example linked merchantconsumer interfaces 600, in accordance with some embodiments. Withreference to FIG. 6, linked merchant consumer interface 600 may includemerchant facing interface 602 and consumer facing interface 604.Merchant facing interface 602 may be an example interactive display thatmay be provided to a merchant facing display, such as merchant facingdisplay 206 of merchant device 202. Consumer facing interface 604 may bean example interactive display that may be provided to a consumer facingdisplay, such as consumer facing display device 218 of consumer facingdevice 204.

In some embodiments, merchant facing interface 602 may include item menu606 and merchant point-of-sale order status indication 608. Consumerfacing interface 604 may include consumer point-of-sale order statusindication 610. In some embodiments, the merchant device may beconfigured to receive merchant inputs provided by the merchant viamerchant facing interface 602. For example, the merchant may be allowedto select an item from item menu 606 (e.g., via a touchscreen and/orother merchant input device) to add to a point-of-sale order.

In some embodiments, server 110 may be configured to receive themerchant inputs provided via the merchant facing interface. For example,server 110 may communicate with the merchant device via network 104 toreceive the merchant inputs provided via the merchant facing interface.

At 608, merchant device 114 may be configured to determine point-of-saledata based on at least one merchant input. For example, where themerchant input indicates a selected item, the merchant device may beconfigured to generate (e.g., based on the merchant input)point-sale-data that may indicate the item, an association between theitem and the point-of-sale order, modifications to an item, etc. Otherexample merchant inputs that may be provided via merchant facinginterface 602 may include point-of-sale data associated with removing anitem from the point-of-sale order, setting a quantity count for theitem, modifying an item, adding and/or removing extras and/or relateditems, creating a new point-of-sale order, accessing a pendingpoint-of-sale order (e.g., the merchant device may be configured tofacilitate consumer activity with multiple consumers in parallel),closing a point-of-sale order, among other things. In some embodiments,server 110 may be configured to receive the merchant inputs provided viathe merchant facing interface. For example, server 110 may be configuredto determine the point-of-sale data based on the at least one merchantinput.

At 610, merchant device 114 (and/or server 110) may be configured toprovide an indication of the point-of-sale data to the consumer facinginterface of the consumer facing display device. Here, the consumer mayview the point-of-sale data via the consumer facing interface, such asto ensure that the merchant has entered the point-of-sale data inaccordance with the consumer's desires. For example, in response to themerchant selecting signature facial selection 618 from item menu 606(e.g., via a touchscreen and/or other merchant input device) of merchantfacing interface 602 (e.g., as shown in FIG. 6), signature facial itemindication 622 may be added to the point-of-sale order as indicated inconsumer point-of-sale order status indication 610 (e.g., as shown inFIG. 7) of consumer facing interface 610. In some embodiments, signaturefacial item indication 622 may additionally or alternatively beindicated in merchant point-of-sale order status indication 608 (e.g.,as shown in FIG. 7) of merchant facing interface 602.

In some embodiments, the point-of-sale data may include a totaltransaction price. For example, as items are added to, modified,discounted, and/or removed from the point-of-sale order, merchant device114 may be configured to determine the total transaction price and/orprovide the total transaction price to the consumer facing interfaceand/or merchant facing interface (e.g., as shown in FIG. 7 for totaltransaction price 624 in merchant facing interface 602 and consumerfacing interface 610).

In some embodiment, the point-of-sale data may include modifications toan item and/or related (e.g., side) items to the item. With reference toFIG. 7, for example, the merchant may be configured to provide merchantinputs for modifying the selected hot stone massage item, such as byselecting host stone massage indicator 624 in merchant point-of-saleorder status indication 608. In response to the selection, the merchantdevice may be configured to provide item modification display 626. Viaitem modification display 626, the merchant may be configured to set aquantity count for the item at 628, add and/or remove one or morerelated items 630 (e.g., shown here as massage related items that can beused in connection with the hot stone massage item), add a discount tothe item at 632 (or otherwise set or select an item price), and/orremove the item from the point-of-sale order at 634. In someembodiments, an indication of the point-of-sale data includingmodifications and/or related items may be provided to the consumerfacing display and/or merchant facing display.

Returning to the method of FIG. 5, at 510, merchant device 114 (and/orserver 110) may be configured to receive promotion redemption dataindicating one or more promotions. For example, the promotion redemptiondata may be generated by the consumer via consumer facing interface 208and using a promotion instrument reader (e.g., a camera 210, barcodescanner, etc.).

In some embodiments, point-of-sale system 108 (and/or promotion andmarketing system 102) may be configured to provide for the purchase (orother acceptance) and redemption of promotions. For example, server 110of system 102 may be configured to provide impressions of promotionsassociated with merchants to consumer devices 106 via network 104. Inresponse to a consumer purchasing a promotion, server 110 may be furtherconfigured to provide an instrument that may be used (e.g., redeemedwith point-of-sale system 108 of the merchant) toward at least a portionof the purchase of particular goods, services and/or experiences definedby the promotion to the consumer device.

In some embodiments, the instrument may be electronic and displayed onthe consumer device at redemption. Here, the instrument may includepromotion redemption data embodied in a barcode, token, identifierand/or other data configured to identify the promotion. Alternatively oradditionally, the instrument may be printed in the form of a coupon orother non-electronic voucher. In some embodiments, the consumer facinginterface and/or consumer facing device may be configured to provide forreceiving promotion redemption data.

With reference to FIG. 6, for example, a consumer may provide thepromotion redemption data upon selecting scan button 616 in consumerfacing interface 604. In response to the consumer selecting scan button616, consumer facing device 204 may be configured to activate thepromotion instrument reader (e.g., camera 210). Furthermore, scandisplay 802 as shown in FIG. 8 may be provided to consumer facinginterface 604. Here, the consumer may place the instrument (e.g., asshown in the display of consumer device 106 or a non-electronic coupon)to the input (e.g., camera lens or field of view) of the promotioninstrument reader. In some embodiments, scan display 802 may includebarcode scan line 804. Here, the consumer facing device may beconfigured to programmatically determine that the barcode has beenplaced on barcode scan line 804, receive inputs from the promotioninstrument reader, and determine the promotion redemption data based onthe barcode.

In some embodiments, the consumer facing device may be furtherconfigured to provide the promotion redemption data to the merchantdevice (e.g., via wireless PAN 220 and/or network 104). In someembodiments, such as where the promotion redemption data is associatedwith an identifier or other non-barcode data, the promotion redemptiondata may be provided to the merchant device via a touchscreen. Here, forexample, the promotion redemption data may be entered by the merchantvia the merchant facing interface and/or by the consumer via theconsumer facing interface. Alternatively or additionally, opticalcharacter recognition (OCR) or other machine reading techniques may beused to determine the promotion redemption data from an instrument.

In some embodiments, in response to receiving the promotion redemptiondata, merchant device 114 may be configured to determine one or morepromotions associated with the promotion redemption data and associatedpromotion data of the one or more promotions. For example, merchantdevice 114 may be configured to send the promotion redemption data toserver 110 and receive the associated promotion data. The associatedpromotion data may indicate, for example, the underlying item of thepromotion and/or a discount value (e.g., from a regular, non-promotionalprice) associated with the purchase of the underlying item via thepromotion.

In some embodiments, the promotion data may be provided to the consumerfacing interface for consumer confirmation and/or acceptance ofredemption. With reference to FIG. 9, for example, in response to theconsumer providing the promotion redemption data (e.g., via scan display802), promotion redemption confirmation display 902 may be provided tothe consumer facing interface. Promotion redemption confirmation display902 may include an indication of promotion data 904, showing the nameand/or description of the promotion. Promotion redemption confirmationdisplay 902 may further include apply button 906, which may be selectedby the consumer to add the promotion redemption (e.g., the discounteditem) to the point-of-sale order.

With reference to FIG. 10, in response to the consumer selecting applybutton 906, the promotion may be added to the point-of-sale order. Forexample, promotion indication 1002 (here, half off for a luxurypedicure) may be provided to consumer point-of-sale order statusindication 610 of consumer facing interface 604 and/or merchantpoint-of-sale order status indication 608 of merchant facing interface602. In some embodiments, promotion indication 1002 may be treatedsimilar to other items. For example, modifications and/or related itemsmay be added. In some embodiments, the promotion may also be removedfrom the point-of-sale order, such as in a manner similar to thedescription herein regarding removal of an (e.g., non-promotional) itemfrom the point-of-sale order.

In some embodiments, the consumer facing interface may be configured toprovide impressions indicating one or more promotions to consumers forpurchase and/or acceptance. With reference to FIG. 6, for example,consumer facing interface 604 may include impression 612 indicating oneor more promotions such as promotion 614. In some embodiments, themerchant device and/or consumer facing device may be configured tocommunicate with server 110 to receive promotion data for providingimpression 612.

In some embodiments, the one or more promotions of impression 612 may beselected for display on consumer facing interface 604 based on one ormore relevance factors. For example, the one or more promotions ofimpression 612 may be selected for display on consumer facing interface604 based on the location of the merchant device such that the one ormore promotions are deals that are local (e.g., within 1, 5, 10, 20miles, etc.) to a consumer at the merchant shop. In some embodiments,the one or more promotions of impression 612 may be additionally oralternatively selected for display on consumer facing interface 604based on the merchant or promotion category. For example, onlypromotions associated with the merchant of the POS system may beprovided to consumer facing interface 604. In another example, onlypromotions associated with other merchants that are not competitors ofthe merchant of the POS system may be provided to consumer facinginterface 604.

In some embodiments, the one or more promotions of impression 612 may beadditionally or alternatively selected for display on consumer facinginterface 604 based on consumer data indicating consumer preferences,purchase histories, ratings, etc. For example, the consumer informationmay be associated with a consumer account provided by server 110. Insome embodiments, merchant device 114 may be configured toprogrammatically identify a consumer and/or consumer account based onreceiving wallet identifying data from a consumer device. For example,merchant device 114 may be configured to receive the wallet identifyingdata from the consumer device and may send the wallet identifying datato server 110. In response, merchant device 114 may be furtherconfigured to receive consumer data and/or the promotion data determinedbased on the consumer data from server 110. Additional discussionregarding consumer device based consumer presence detection andidentification, applicable to some embodiments, can be found in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/801,610, titled “Consumer Presence BasedDeal Offers,” filed Mar. 13, 2013, which is incorporated by reference inits entirety herein.

At 512, merchant device 114 (and/or server 110) may be configured toreceive tip data. For example, the tip data may be provided by consumerinput via consumer facing interface 604 and may be sent to merchantdevice 114 from consumer facing device 116 via wireless PAN 220 and/ornetwork 104. The tip data may indicate a tip amount to be added to apreliminary total transaction cost (e.g. not including the tip amount)of the point-of-sale order.

In some embodiments, the consumer facing interface may include orotherwise provide for interfaces configured to receive consumer input ofthe tip amount. With reference to FIG. 11, for example, consumer facinginterface 604 may be configured to provide tip display 1102. Via tipdisplay 1102, the consumer may be allowed to select (e.g., via atouchscreen or other consumer input device) a predetermined tip amount(e.g., as a real currency value and/or as a percentage of some or all ofthe preliminary total transaction cost) and/or a custom tip amount.

At 514, merchant device 114 (and/or server 110) may be configured todetermine a total transaction cost. The total transaction cost may bedetermined based on one or more of the point-of-sale data (e.g.indicating items added to the point-of-sale order and/or associatedprices), the promotion redemption data (e.g., indicating a discountvalue to be deducted from a preliminary total transaction cost that doesnot include the discount value), the tip data (e.g., indicating a tipamount to be added to a preliminary total transaction cost that does notinclude the tip amount), and/or a tax amount.

In some embodiments, the total transaction cost and/or the variousportions thereof may be provided to the consumer facing interface and/ormerchant facing interface. For example, the total transaction costincluding the tip amount may be provided to consumer facing interface604 and/or merchant facing interface 602, such as shown in totaltransaction cost indication 1204 for consumer facing interface 604 inFIG. 12.

At 516, merchant device 114 (and/or server 110) may be configured toreceive payment data of the consumer. For example, the consumer facinginterface and/or consumer facing device may be configured to receive thepayment data, such as from a card reader (e.g., card reader 212 ofconsumer facing device 204 shown in FIG. 2) configured to generate thepayment data. Here, the payment data may include credit card data (e.g.,credit card number, expiration date, card verification value (CVV)etc.), debit card data, among other things that may be used tofacilitate a financial transaction for the point-of-sale order. In someembodiments, the payment data may be provided by the consumer usingconsumer facing device 204 and send to merchant device 202, such as viawireless PAN 220 and/or network 104. In some embodiments, the paymentdata may be stored in association with a consumer account, such as indatabase 112 of system 102. Here, merchant device 114 may be configuredto communicate with server 110 to receive the payment data. In anotherexample, the payment data may be stored at system 102. Here, merchantdevice 114 may be configured to provide suitable point-of-sale data tosystem 102 to facilitate the financial transaction based on the storedpayment data. Additional discussion regarding consumer account payments,applicable to some embodiments, can be found in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/801,610, incorporated by reference above.

In some embodiments, the payment data may include consumer signaturedata and/or other payment confirmation data. With reference to FIG. 12,for example, consumer facing interface 604 may include paymentconfirmation display 1202 configured to receive the payment data in theform of consumer signature data. Here, the consumer may provide consumerinputs indicating the consumer signature data, such as via atouchscreen, touchpad, etc. Payment confirmation display 1202 mayfurther include total transaction cost indication 1204. The consumer mayindicate that the total transaction cost and/or consumer signature datais complete and/or accurate by selecting signature complete button 1206.In response, the consumer signature data and/or other payment data maybe sent from the consumer facing device to merchant device 114.

At 518, merchant device 114 (and/or server 110) may be configured tofacilitate a financial transaction based on the total transaction costand the payment data. For example, merchant device 114 may be configuredto send the total transaction cost and the payment data to system 102and/or other payment server. Merchant device 114 may be furtherconfigured to receive payment confirmation data from system 102 and/orother payment server indicating that the financial transaction wassuccessfully completed or that the financial transaction wasunsuccessful (e.g., as may be caused invalid payment data).

In some embodiments, such as where consumer devices are used to providepayment, the payment data may be indicated and/or otherwise securedusing an electronic signature and/or other encrypted data generatedusing a wallet identifying token provided by system 102 and/or otherpayment server. For example, merchant device 114 may be configured toprovide the point-of-sale data to consumer device 106 indicating thetotal transaction price or some portion thereof. The consumer device maybe configured to generate secured payment data (e.g., such by signingthe point-of-sale data or other payment data with a wallet identifyingtoken securely shared with system 102 and/or other payment server) forthe total transaction cost and to provide the secured payment approvaldata to merchant device 114. Merchant device 114 may then be configuredto send the secured payment data and point-of-sale data (e.g., includingthe total transaction cost) to server 110 (e.g., of system 102) and/orother payment server to facilitate the financial transaction. Server 110may be configured to generate secured payment data by signing thepoint-of-sale data with a stored copy of the wallet identifying tokenand comparing the generated secured payment data against the onereceived from the merchant device. Upon successful authentication of thereceived data, server 110 may be configured to send the point-of-saledata with payment data of the consumer (e.g., associated via theconsumer account) to a financial server, such as a server associatedwith the Automated Clearing House (ACH) for United States transactions.Additional discussion regarding secured consumer device payments,applicable to some embodiments, may be found in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/764,753, titled “Consumer Device Token Management,” filedFeb. 11, 2013, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/801,520, titled“Peer-to-Peer Payment Processing,” filed Mar. 13, 2013, which are eachincorporated by reference in their entirety herein, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/801,610, incorporated by reference above. Insome embodiments, the wallet identifying token may be based at leastpartially a media access control (MAC) address of the consumer device.

In some embodiments, the consumer device (e.g., where consumer devicesare used to provide payment) and/or consumer facing device may beconfigured to send the payment data to system 102 and/or other paymentserver, such as without the merchant device acting as an intermediary.In some embodiments, some or all of the functionalities of the merchantfacing interface may be provided to the consumer facing interface. Forexample, the consumer facing interface may include a display of menuitems for generating point-of-sale data by consumer inputs. Additionallyor alternatively, some or all of the functionalities of the consumerfacing interface may be provided to the merchant facing interface.

At 520, merchant device 114 (and/or server 110) may be configured toprovide a payment confirmation. In some embodiments, the paymentconfirmation may include a receipt or other summary of the point-of-saleorder. For example, the receipt may include receipt data indicatingitems associated with the point-of-sale order, item prices, tip amounts,promotion discounts, tax amounts, a total transaction cost, atransaction date, the payment account/method used, etc. In someembodiments, the receipt may be provided to the consumer device (e.g.,via email) and/or as a printed receipt.

With reference to FIG. 13, for example, consumer facing interface 604may include receipt selection display 1302. Here, the consumer may beallowed to provide receipt selection data indicating whether and/or howa receipt is to be provided to the consumer. The consumer may specifythat a receipt is not needed via selection of no receipt button 1304,that an email receipt is desired via selection of email receipt button1306, and/or that a printed receipt is desired via print receipt button1308. Merchant device 114 and/or consumer facing device 116 may beconfigured to facilitate at least one of printing and emailing of areceipt for the financial transaction based on the consumer input. Inresponse to the consumer selecting email receipt button 1304, merchantdevice 114 and/or consumer facing device 116 may be configured to sendan email including the receipt data. For example, the email may beprovided by the consumer via consumer facing interface 604. In anotherexample, merchant device 114 may be configured to communicate withsystem 102 to send the receipt data via an email account and/or someother communication channel associated with the consumer and/or consumeraccount. In response to the consumer selecting print receipt button1306, merchant device 114 and/or consumer facing device 116 may beconfigured to send the receipt data to a receipt printer or the like. Assuch, in some embodiments, the point-of-sale system may further includea receipt printer which may communicably connected with merchant device114 and/or consumer facing device 116 (e.g., via a wireless PAN, a wiredconnection, and/or network 104).

In some embodiments, the payment confirmation may additionally oralternatively include a payment status confirmation. The payment statusconfirmation may indicate that the financial transaction was processedsuccessfully or unsuccessfully. With reference to FIG. 14, for example,consumer facing interface 604 may be configured to provide paymentstatus confirmation 1402 configured to indicate that the financialtransaction was successful to the consumer. Additionally oralternatively, merchant facing interface 602 may include payment statusconfirmation 1404 configured to indicate that the financial transactionwas successful to the merchant. Method 500 may then proceed to 522 andend.

CONCLUSION

Many modifications and other embodiments will come to mind to oneskilled in the art to which these embodiments pertain having the benefitof the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and theassociated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that embodimentsand implementations are not to be limited to the specific exampleembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed:
 1. A promotion and marketing system for promotingand facilitating transactions, the promotion and marketing systemcomprising: a promotion and marketing system server comprising aprocessor and executable code stored in a non-volatile memory, such thatwhen the executable code is executed the processor is configured to:receive promotion transaction data, wherein the promotion transactiondata indicates a purchased promotion for at least one good or serviceassociated with a consumer profile; generate an instrument based on thepromotion transaction data, wherein the instrument is redeemable for thepurchased promotion; provide the instrument to a consumer deviceassociated with the consumer profile; cause a merchant facing device toestablish a wireless personal area network (PAN) connection with aconsumer facing device, wherein data communicated between the merchantdevice and the consumer facing device over the PAN connection isencrypted using a shared token, and wherein the merchant facing device,the consumer facing device, and the consumer device are distinctdevices; cause the merchant facing device to generate a consumer facinginterface for rendering on a consumer facing device display of theconsumer facing device, wherein the consumer facing interface comprisesan additional impressions interface component and an interactive scanbutton; cause the merchant facing device to communicate the consumerfacing interface to the consumer facing device over the PAN connectionfor rendering on the consumer facing device display; cause the merchantfacing device to generate and communicate to the consumer facing deviceover the PAN connection, in response to a consumer engagement of theinteractive scan button on the consumer facing interface, an updatedconsumer facing interface that includes a scan prompt interface, whereinthe scan prompt interface is configured to trigger capture redemptiondata associated with the instrument as it is displayed on a redemptioninterface of the consumer device; receive the redemption data associatedwith the instrument from the consumer facing device; cause the merchantfacing device to generate and communicate, over the PAN connection, apromotion redemption confirmation display to the consumer facing devicedisplay, wherein the promotion redemption confirmation display isgenerated at least partially based on the instrument; receive aconfirmation indication of the redemption data associated with theinstrument from the consumer facing device in response to consumerengagement of the promotion redemption confirmation display of theconsumer facing interface; determine a consumer relevant additionalimpressions set based on the promotion transaction data and a relevancefactor set based on consumer data, wherein the consumer relevantadditional impressions set indicates additional promotions that aretargeted to a consumer associated with the consumer profile; cause themerchant facing device to generate and communicate, over the PANconnection, the consumer relevant additional impressions set to theconsumer facing device for rendering in the additional impressionsinterface component of the consumer facing interface; determine a totaltransaction value based at least in part on the redemption dataassociated with the instrument; cause the merchant facing device togenerate and communicate, over the PAN connection, a total transactioninterface comprising the total transaction value to the consumer facingdevice for rendering in the consumer facing interface of the consumerfacing device display; and cause the merchant facing device to renderthe total transaction interface comprising the total transaction valueon a merchant facing interface of the merchant facing device.
 2. Thepromotion and marketing system of claim 1, wherein the consumer profileindicates at least one of a consumer preference, consumer purchasehistory, or consumer-provided ratings.
 3. The promotion and marketingsystem of claim 1, wherein the merchant facing interface comprises apoint-of-sale interface component including menu items to be selected.4. The promotion and marketing system of claim 3, wherein thepoint-of-sale interface component includes menu items unrelated to thepromotion transaction data.
 5. The promotion and marketing system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive, via theconsumer facing interface, a tip input.
 6. The promotion and marketingsystem of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to: inresponse to receiving the tip input, update the total transaction value;and cause the merchant facing device to generate and communicate, overthe PAN connection, the total transaction interface to the consumerfacing device for rendering in the consumer facing interface, whereinthe total transaction interface comprises the updated total transactionvalue based on the tip input.
 7. The promotion and marketing system ofclaim 1, wherein the relevance factor set comprises location datadetermined through mobile device geolocation, consumer preferences,profile information, and consumer behavior.
 8. A machine-implementedmethod of facilitating transactions via a promotion and marketingsystem, the machine-implemented method comprising: receiving promotiontransaction data, wherein the promotion transaction data indicates apurchased promotion for at least one good or service associated with aconsumer profile; generating an instrument based on the promotiontransaction data, wherein the instrument is redeemable for the purchasedpromotion; providing the instrument to a consumer device associated withthe consumer profile; causing a merchant facing device to establish awireless personal area network (PAN) connection with a consumer facingdevice, wherein data communicated between the merchant device and theconsumer facing device over the PAN connection is encrypted using ashared token, and wherein the merchant facing device, the consumerfacing device, and the consumer device are distinct devices; causing themerchant facing device to generate a consumer facing interface forrendering on a consumer facing device display of the consumer facingdevice, wherein the consumer facing interface comprises an additionalimpressions interface component and an interactive scan button; causingthe merchant facing device to communicate the consumer facing interfaceto the consumer facing device over the PAN connection for rendering onthe consumer facing device display; causing the merchant facing deviceto generate and communicate to the consumer facing device over the PANconnection, in response to a consumer engagement of the interactive scanbutton on the consumer facing interface, an updated consumer facinginterface that includes a scan prompt interface, wherein the scan promptinterface is configured to trigger capture redemption data associatedwith the instrument as it is displayed on a redemption interface of theconsumer device; receiving the redemption data associated with theinstrument from the consumer facing device; causing the merchant facingdevice to generate and communicate, over the PAN connection, a promotionredemption confirmation display to the consumer facing device display,wherein the promotion redemption confirmation display is generated atleast partially based on the instrument; receiving a confirmationindication of the redemption data associated with the instrument fromthe consumer facing device in response to consumer engagement of thepromotion redemption confirmation display of the consumer facinginterface; determining a consumer relevant additional impressions setbased on the promotion transaction data and a relevance factor set basedon consumer data, wherein the consumer relevant additional impressionsset indicates additional promotions that are targeted to a consumerassociated with the consumer profile; causing the merchant facing deviceto generate and communicate, over the PAN connection, the consumerrelevant additional impressions set to the consumer facing device forrendering in the additional impressions interface component of theconsumer facing interface; determining a total transaction value basedat least in part on the redemption data associated with the instrument;causing the merchant facing device to generate and communicate, over thePAN connection, a total transaction interface comprising the totaltransaction value to the consumer facing device for rendering in theconsumer the consumer facing device display; and causing the merchantfacing device to render the total transaction interface comprising thetotal transaction value on a merchant facing interface of the merchantfacing device.
 9. The machine-implemented method of claim 8, wherein theconsumer profile indicates at least one of a consumer preference,consumer purchase history, or consumer-provided ratings.
 10. Themachine-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the merchant facinginterface comprises a point-of-sale interface component including menuitems to be selected.
 11. The machine-implemented method of claim 10,wherein the point-of-sale interface component includes menu itemsunrelated to the promotion transaction data.
 12. The machine-implementedmethod of claim 8 further comprising receiving, via the consumer facinginterface, a tip input.
 13. The machine-implemented method of claim 12further comprising: in response to receiving the tip input, updating thetotal transaction value; and causing the merchant facing device togenerate and communicate, over the PAN connection, the total transactioninterface to the consumer facing device for rendering in the consumerfacing interface, wherein the total transaction interface comprises theupdated total transaction value based on the tip input.
 14. Themachine-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the relevance factor setcomprises location data determined through mobile device geolocation,consumer preferences, profile information, and consumer behavior.